Financial Review: HCW Biologics (NASDAQ:HCWB) versus Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) and HCW Biologics (NASDAQ:HCWB) are both healthcare companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, risk, valuation, profitability, dividends and earnings.

Risk & Volatility

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a beta of 0.42, suggesting that its stock price is 58% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, HCW Biologics has a beta of 2.37, suggesting that its stock price is 137% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and HCW Biologics’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	-64.76%	-111.08%	-17.41%
HCW Biologics	-83.03%	-262.33%	-34.90%

Institutional & Insider Ownership

93.9% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 3.0% of HCW Biologics shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 9.1% of HCW Biologics shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals and HCW Biologics, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	1	4	17	0	2.73
HCW Biologics	1	0	1	0	2.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus price target of $90.80, indicating a potential upside of 94.22%. HCW Biologics has a consensus price target of $30.00, indicating a potential upside of 1,438.46%. Given HCW Biologics’ higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe HCW Biologics is more favorable than Ionis Pharmaceuticals.

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Ionis Pharmaceuticals and HCW Biologics”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Ionis Pharmaceuticals	$944.00 million	8.23	-$381.39 million	($3.46)	-13.51
HCW Biologics	$50,000.00	71.76	-$7.96 million	($27.60)	-0.07

HCW Biologics has lower revenue, but higher earnings than Ionis Pharmaceuticals. Ionis Pharmaceuticals is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than HCW Biologics, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Summary

Ionis Pharmaceuticals beats HCW Biologics on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy. It also develops medicines for various indications that are in phase 3 study, including Eplontersen as a monthly self-administered subcutaneous injection to treat all types of ATTR; Olezarsen for patients with FCS and severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG); Donidalorsen for patients with hereditary angioedema; ION363 for patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis; Tofersen to inhibit the production of superoxide dismutase 1; Pelacarsen for patients with established cardiovascular disease and elevated lipoprotein(a); and Bepirovirsen to inhibit the production of viral proteins associated with hepatitis B virus. In addition, the company develops IONIS-FB-LRx to inhibit the production of complement factor B and the alternative complement pathway; and ION224 to reduce the production of diacylglycerol acyltransferase 2. It has a strategic collaboration with Biogen for the treatment of neurological disorders; and collaboration and license agreement with Metagenomi, Inc, AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, GlaxoSmithKline plc, Novartis, Roche, Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB, and PTC Therapeutics. The company was incorporated in 1989 and is based in Carlsbad, California.

About HCW Biologics

HCW Biologics Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering and developing novel immunotherapies for chronic, low-grade inflammation, and age-related diseases in the United States. The company's lead products include HCW9218, which is in Phase 1 clinical chemo-refractory/chemo-resistant solid tumors with pancreatic, ovarian, breast, prostate, and colorectal cancers, as well as Phase 2 clinical trial with metastatic advanced stage ovarian cancer patients; and HCW9302 for autoimmune and proinflammatory diseases, such as alopecia areata diseases. It also develops HCW9201, a cell-based therapy that is in Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory acute myelogenous leukemia; and HCW9206, an injectable immunotherapeutic to use as adjuvant for adoptive cell therapy in cancer treatment. HCW Biologics Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Miramar, Florida.